Flora of New Zealand Series

prince's feather

Infl. erect, crimson, to c. 20 cm high. Lateral spikes densely arranged, to c. 5 cm × 5 mm. Bracteoles and perianth usually crimson; keel often darker.

N.; S.: scattered localities throughout.

Origin unknown, probably from cultivation 1983

Occasional as a garden weed and in waste places outside gardens.

This var. of the widespread tropical and subtropical A. hybridus is cultivated in N.Z. for its attractive erect crimson panicles. Cultivated or spontaneous plants of this taxon are nearly always coloured reddish to some extent. It is treated in European Floras as A. chlorostachys Willd.   var. erythrostachys (Moq) Aellen, and has been previously known in N.Z. as A. hybridus subsp. hypochondriacus and A. hypochondriacus.